“The Washington county poor house is a three story brick building, with nine feet ceilings, the rooms being seven by eight and eight by ten, lighted by windows two feet square. The whole number of inmates is (120) one hundred and twenty, of which thirty-six are insane. Several were admitted previous to 1840. Three are past seventy years of age. Thirteen are males, twenty-three are females; twenty-five are of native birth; ten have been treated in an asylum: twelve are capable of doing some labor. Those who do not labor have no light occupation or amusement, except going into the yard when circumstances admit of it. One is constantly restrained by hand-cuffs. The building is supplied with water, and has one bath tub; the insane are required to bathe occasionally.
The bedsteads are of wood; the bedding, straw and feathers. Two sleep on straw without bedstead or bedding. Those who are able eat at a common table, others have their food distributed to them. No attention is paid to the uniformity of heat in the winter, though it is designed to keep the rooms comfortable. Two are often confined in a single cell. The attendants employed to care for the insane are paupers. The county receives recent cases. The building is designed to accommodate fifty. They receive no medical treatment with reference to an ultimate cure. Cleanliness, comfortable clothing and sufficient food, are the three virtues of the institution. It aims at nothing more.”
The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900 / A Genealogy Resource 